By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on January 16, 2025.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com
Students at Winston Churchill High School will have a brand new facility to “spark” their interest, thanks to a new partnership.
Southland Trailers, in partnership with several local organizations, is helping WCHS build its own welding shop, to provide students with the opportunity to try out the ever-growing trade.
The welding shop will be located in the west end of the school, by renovating a garage structure that is no longer being used, with groundbreaking taking place on Jan. 30.
Principal Tracy Wong says the school has never had a welding shop, but it has been a dream for many years now, to be able to offer a welding program on site as there has been a lot of interest from the students.
“There are a couple of programs in the city that we have been able to access, where kids get to try welding,” says Wong. “And every time they have tried it, they have loved it and come back to the school disappointed by not being able to continue due to not having a shop at the school.”
She adds that one of the barriers the school faced in the past, other than not having a shop, was not having a certified teacher for the program. But that changed a couple of years ago when they hired Colton Garner, who was originally hired to teach science and math.
“We approached Colton last year with the idea to explore the reality of building a welding shop here at the school and what that would entail, so he started to reach out to people to see if we could make that happen,” says Wong.
They learned that it would cost approximately $400,000 and when this information was presented to the Lethbridge School Division, even though they were very supportive of the project, WCHS was told they would need to come up with the funding.
“So, we had this idea in our heads where it would be a five-year project, where we would be putting money away every year, while also reaching out to sponsors and community partners who would help make this dream come true,” says Wong.
Garner has an extensive welding background, including six years of teaching welding at a different school division he previously worked at, as well as consulting with Lethbridge Polytechnic with their Trades building.
“I have a decent understanding in terms of the need our province has for youth in trades and the opportunity that kids could have, if we get the tools into the school,” says Garner.
He explains that when he was asked to reach out to local community partners, he reached out to Southland Trailers and they were very welcoming of the idea.
“It happened really quick, they got excited over it, they started planning, budgeting and reaching out to their business partners and were able to gather enough funds through the Community Welding Bureau and local community partners for this whole endeavour.”
He says as a school, they are overwhelmed with how quickly Southland was able to make things happen.
“As Tracy said, we had a five-year plan which was realistic and modest, so to be able to have the turn-around of within a year for me to be teaching is incredible,” says Garner.
He says there is a lot of momentum going into it, as students have expressed interest already and can’t wait to be able to learn in their new welding shop.
“Southland is going to act as an industry mentor in terms of leading my program in the right direction to meet industry standards, not only for their liking but also for industry standards for students to be successful as entry level welders to be successfully employed in the trade,” says Garner.Â
He adds that the fact that the owners of Southland Trailers and other industry partners are WCHS alumni, makes this project a community project, where alumni are helping current students gain the tools they will need to later on joined them in the industry.
In a release sent to the Herald, Southland Trailers says the WCHS welding shop represents a bold step toward advancing hands-on training for high school students, empowering the next generation of skilled tradespeople.
“This collaborative effort has been made possible through the support of Southland Trailers and its dedicated partners including Neu-Lite Electric Inc, Top Notch Mechanical, 1st Technical Systems Inc, Litterbug Waste Disposal Service, Rite-Way Fencing Inc, Banditos Inc and Eecol Electric.”
The WCHS welding shop will feature state of the art amenities, including seven welding booths, specialized areas for grinding and cutting and additional spaces to facilitate hands-on training.
“The initiative underscores the importance of collaboration between industries, educational institutions and the community in fostering opportunities for young learners to succeed in the trades.”
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